Sorry, too late for Christmas delivery of custom calligraphy. But I do have a lot of in-stock calligraphy. If you have an emergency, I have a limited number of blank scrolls and can have a local calligrapher create something for you.
Want to order a custom scroll now? I can also create a web page to show the gift recipient about the scroll they will receive in January. Contact me!

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1. Other similar-meaning words.
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Goddess of Mercy and Compassion

觀音 / 観音 is the Buddhist deity known as the Goddess of Mercy or Bodhisattva of Compassion.

In Chinese, the proper name of this being is Guan Yin. There is some debate as to whether Guan Yin is female. The argument comes from some scripture that suggests Buddhist deities take on the male form. Others say that Guan Yin has no sex. And still others are okay with the female representation of Guan Yin.

Namu Amida Butsu

This is the modern Japanese version of "Namu Amida Butsu" or "The Compassionate Amitabha Buddha."

Some will translate this as, "I sincerely believe in Amitabha; Lord have mercy on me."

This phrase especially applies to Japanese Pure Land Buddhists.

There is a more universal version using ancient characters (with more strokes) for the 4th and last characters. That version is also used in Chinese, Korean, and occasionally Vietnamese.
This is used to pay homage to Amitabha Buddha.

The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title

Characters

Romaji(Romanized Japanese)

Various forms of Romanized Chinese

Namo Amitabha Buddha

南無阿彌陀佛南无阿弥陀佛

namu amida butsunamuamidabutsu

nā mó ē mí tuó fóna1 mo2 e1 mi2 tuo2 fo2na mo e mi tuo fonamoemituofo

na mo o mi t`o fonamoomitofona mo o mi to fo

Bodhisattva

菩薩菩萨

bosatsu

pú sà / pu2 sa4 / pu sa / pusa

p`u sa / pusa / pu sa

Goddess of Mercy and Compassion

觀音 / 観音观音

kan non / kannon

guān yīn / guan1 yin1 / guan yin / guanyin

kuan yin / kuanyin

Namu Amida Butsu

南無阿弥陀仏

namu amida butsunamuamidabutsu

In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line.In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese.

Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...

When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.

Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!

When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.

The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"single-character wall scroll.We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.

Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.

There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.

Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.

The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also
attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over
6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers
in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt
such a feat.